You may know him as ultra-intense lawyer Bobby Donnell on ABC's The Practice. After exiting the drama in 2003 and starring in the short-lived series Big Shots in 2007, Dylan McDermott is back on the small screen in TNT's Dark Blue (Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET/PT). This time, McDermott goes undercover as one very tortured cop heading a group of covert operatives. McDermott, 47, says he's less brooding and grim than his character, Carter Shaw. But like Shaw, "I'm very driven and ambitious in my life. I've been dedicated to being an actor for so long."

A: I was always interested in undercover cops and tried to develop a show about it years ago. They didn't go for it. You get that call from Jerry one day and he wants to meet with you. It falls out of the sky. My uncle was a cop and I used to ride around with him when I was a kid. There's something so powerful about it.

Q: Why undercover cops?

A: With serial television, there's a repetition that happens. The repetition bogs you down at certain points. Being undercover, when your character is in character, would be really interesting. You'll always be interested in going to work. I love creating characters within a character within a character.

Q: If you could go undercover for one day and infiltrate any group, which would it be?

A: Either the Mafia or the Aryan Brotherhood. I hope I'm as brave as Carter. I don't think I'm in the same situations, living in Brentwood. It's the housewives that will eventually take you down. They're more dangerous than any gang.

Q: You've had some hits and misses on TV. Any worries this time around?

A: You never know. It's like throwing a big party and wondering if anyone will come.

Q: And is it true that your dad was the bartender for years at JG Melon on Manhattan's Upper East Side?

A: I haven't been there in a while because my dad lives in Arizona now, but I used to go there all the time when he was bartending. It's an amazing place.

Q: You're called the "prince of darkness" on the show. What do you do when you're not being Carter?

A: The most fun I have is being with my kids. (McDermott, who is divorced, is dad to Colette, 12, and Charlotte, 3.) I have to let Carter go on the weekends. I don't want to bring him around them. When I get to be with my girls, that's the best time of my life. That's my fun, going to the movies or the park.

Q: Any chance your daughters will become actors?

A: Oh, God, I hope not. Please.

Q: In 2006, you starred in The Treatment, a play by your adoptive mom, Eve Ensler. Got more theater plans?

A: It was fun doing that play. I love theater. Another tortured character. I tried to do Big Shots and it was a misconceived project, but I really tried to do something lighthearted.

On the set: Dylan McDermott stars as Carter Shaw in the new TNT drama Dark Blue. Shaw heads a team of covert police officers. McDermott says he has always been interested in a show about undercover cops.

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